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Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage has been shown to be rubbish. There is no equilibrium, which is why we see accumulation of large imbalances. Now, for the US, which "prints" the global reserve currency, it might seem that large current-account deficits aren't too harmful (although that's not true, they distort it's economy in favor of questionable services and increase private-sector indebtedness), however for other countries such imbalances are extremely risky and may lead to currency crises (Turkey recently) or insolvency (Greece). Global trade and capital flows have been wreaking havoc for quite a while now. Rebalancing them is desirable and necessary.

Trump is not a mercantilist. He's an authoritarian. He only thinks and responds to what keeps and raises his power. This is why Xi has had second thoughts. He knows this type intimately of course. The threat of Trump is not a decline of globalism and a rise of mercantilism. There will be no thoughtful effort to make mercantilism work. He and all the leaders of the executive branch are instituting oligarchy. Globalism and any rules based econimic system will all be casualties.

Overall, it has arguably done a lot of good (we're not at war with China, the Chinese are leading better lives) to help finance the growth of a Chinese middle class (that's what we've done) than the opposite. Shame on us for neglecting investment in our own labor force, infrastructure and strategic industries.I've been to China twice. Chinese people are as smart, funny and hard-working as people anywhere. If you haven't been to China and seen its transformation, I wish you wouldn't write or talk about. As for the President, he just likes to blame other people, and create blaming narratives, as it suits him. As for his supposedly great tax and deregulation actions, I don't get what's so great about them for anyone but people like him.

Another economist that cannot get over the rabid religious fanaticism of the failed free trade model … look it’s just not working …. Why do they stick to this old chestnut of comparative advantage in the face of fresh facts about unstable global economics that cannot be equated to such a formula… I suggest an IQ test should be applied far closer to the home of said economists …

Trump is right.. they are wrong… simple….. It’s time to push back with trade leverage.

Look…The Real Enemy is Wasteful Global Trade in all forms!

Many economists are concerned about the recent reduction in global trade via tariff management by the US government …..but it’s actually very good news….. Global trade due to its over liberalization, has increased 8 times since 1980 but global prosperity only 3 times.

Due to this our western economies lost many value adding jobs in many sectors through labor arbitrage and we have experienced negative transfer of wealth and capital.

Also, this globalization journey has created resource waste in all forms, and is a main contributor to our global ecological problems…

Using the recent leverage of the trade tariffs and technologies we can competitively re-shore and localize manufacturing and the associated service businesses closer to our consumers, enabling faster and more flexible response to demand and employ less process steps and wasteful inventory, and this will result in a 5 to 10 fold reduction in various supply chain operating costs.

These far shorter supply chains will be inherently LEANER and GREENER with a much more effective cost and carbon footprint and will make all our future local economies and habitats far more sustainable.

When we investigate the feasibility of such localized trade blocs we find that for example a North American trade bloc that followed this sustainability agenda would need to import very little outside of the north American continent and would empower the North American population to make much more of what they consume and utilize more of their local resources as much as practical, further increase demand for the value-added effort and generate increased GDP and wealth within an economy, such that interest rates can be normalized upwards to better drive recapitalization, investment and prosperity.

The application (as much as practical) of such trade bloc models on a global basis would force all nations on the planet to better balance economic and ecological initiatives and focus on national sustainability and the well-being of their own citizens who will better regulate any pollution they create “in their own backyard” as they extract grow and make and service their own economies.

So… Global trade must become limited to resources or products that cannot be localized and become an option of last resort to ensure we develop far more balanced and accountable national economies, rather than the duplicitous, redundant, wasteful and destructive free for all of the current over-extended global trade system.

It is an unfortunate reality that the Trump administration's policies are largely driven by a level of functional illiteracy. Well before the dynamic economic transformation of post-Mao China, elites in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan had recognized that Asian markets and populations would shape the future of the global economy and positioned themselves to take advantages of the new opportunities. The Trump administration seems to have fallen off the bus.

The solution is in this quote from this article…“The reason that countries participate in international trade is to get imports – consumer goods, intermediate goods used in production, and capital equipment – in exchange for exports. Framed this way, exports are simply the goods that Americans are willing to part with to acquire something they want or need.”Well we are dangerously way past this model… We have imports we don’t need and exports we can avoid if we reset the game and that is exactly what Trump and correctly is doing..The Real Enemy … Wasteful Global Trade in all forms!Many economists are concerned about the recent reduction in global trade via tariff management by the US government …..but it’s actually very good news….. Global trade due to its over liberalization, has increased 8 times since 1980 but global prosperity only 3 times.Due to this our western economies lost many value adding jobs in many sectors through labor arbitrage and we have experienced negative transfer of wealth and capital. Also, this globalization journey has created resource waste in all forms, and is a main contributor to our global ecological problems… Using the recent leverage of the trade tariffs and technologies we can competitively re-shore and localize manufacturing and the associated service businesses closer to our consumers, enabling faster and more flexible response to demand and employ less process steps and wasteful inventory, and this will result in a 5 to 10 fold reduction in various supply chain operating costs.

These far shorter supply chains will be inherently LEANER and GREENER with a much more effective cost and carbon footprint and will make all our future local economies and habitats far more sustainable.

When we investigate the feasibility of such localized trade blocs we find that for example a North American trade bloc that followed this sustainability agenda would need to import very little outside of the north American continent and would empower the North American population to make much more of what they consume and utilize more of their local resources as much as practical, further increase demand for the value-added effort and generate increased GDP and wealth within an economy, such that interest rates can be normalized upwards to better drive recapitalization, investment and prosperity.

The application (as much as practical) of such trade bloc models on a global basis would force all nations on the planet to better balance economic and ecological initiatives and focus on national sustainability and the well-being of their own citizens who will better regulate any pollution they create “in their own backyard” as they extract grow and make and service their own economies.

So… Global trade must become limited to resources or products that cannot be localized and become an option of last resort to ensure we develop far more balanced and accountable national economies, rather than the duplicitous, redundant, wasteful and destructive free for all of the current over-extended global trade system.

...."America has a serious problem on its hands. Well, that little phrase sure is the under-statement of the year, if not this century.

Here's a little quote from Britannica.com, on "legacy", of a supreme leader from China:

"Legacy

Deng restored China to domestic stability and economic growth after the disastrous excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Under his leadership, China acquired a rapidly growing economy, rising standards of living, considerably expanded personal and cultural freedoms, and growing ties to the world economy. Deng also left in place a mildly authoritarian government that remained committed to the CCP’s one-party rule even while it relied on free-market mechanisms to transform China into a developed country."

Dang left a real legacy to support his nation.

The incomplete premises, lack of real principles, lack of real ideals, lack of real logical methodologies, as exemplified by the present national leader in the US will be leaving an absolute legacy of absolute destruction of the US social contract.

Even if everybody and his brother were forced to spoon feed it to him, the present US leader could not even begin to digest Vogel's biography of Deng.

The present strategization of the destruction of open market enterprise is a zero-sum game. That is not a very nice legacy, nor will it MAGA to say the least.

"it is hard to see how receiving a lot of high-quality goods at low cost amounts to “losing.”" Trade should be about buying from other nations that can produce products/services we can't. Instead, it's about finding cheap labor- the same goal that resulted in slavery.

It would be interesting to see what trade tariffs have been imposed on the USA by China since the beggining of there rise to power. Finally we have a leader (in Donald Trump) willing to ballance the injustice and lead the Nation back to fair commerce.

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